Member states' failure to "act as one", “speak with a single voice” or to at least communicate the same message during the Arab uprisings in 2011 was only the latest example of faulty diplomatic practices. The diverging approaches towards new authorities and the military intervention, however, were only one part of the picture as in the area of policy formation and migration control, member states did transfer responsibilities to the supranational level
The paper seeks to explain what accounts for these different practices and how such decisions are made by looking into decision-making practices as the EU and MS level ad by analyzing attitudes and perceptions among senior national diplomatic officials. The paper draws on data collected in three major European member states, Germany, France and Great Britain and builds on . insights from Foreign Policy Analysis, Security Studies, and theories of role perception.
